In Bloom
by BlackrockCat
Summary: She was sharper than steel, stronger than stone, softer than silk and yet… more fragile than a rose. On a dark and dreary evening, Talon contemplates the mixed emotions he has for his sister, Katarina. (Talon x Kat, rated M for language and sexuality.)
1. Chapter 1

_On all her breezes borne, Earth yields no scents like those; _

_But he that dares not grasp the thorn should never crave the rose._

_-Anne Bronte_

* * *

**In Bloom, Chapter 1**

It rained a lot in Noxus.

Talon lay on his bed, one hand resting atop his midsection while the other stretched lazily across the wrinkled gray sea of linen that made up his bed sheets. He was clad in nothing but a pair of tight black boxers, the silken material damp from all the sweat and moisture clinging to his hips and the slim, sinewy 'V' of his lower core. The tattered ribbon holding his hair back did little to keep the bangs out of his eyes, long locks of feathery chocolate sticking to his temples and the sides of his angular jawline. It was hot. _Really._ _Fucking._ _Hot._ Summer had arrived early this year and with it, as always, came the gloomy skies and warm winds that were so typical of monsoon season in Noxus. It rained quite often around this time and tonight was no exception. A torrential downpour had beaten out a steady rhythm over the crown of the city for nearly three days now, leaving the entire province a steamy, muddled mess in the process.

Of course, it hadn't helped that Katarina had _insisted_ on training with him out in the courtyard all day, weather be damned. They'd been at it for hours on end and when all was said and done, the two of them had finished their mock battle completely soaked from head to toe. Talon remembered watching her afterwards as she moved to retrieve her throwing knives from the garden grounds. Her sopping wet leggings had clung to the backs of her thighs like a second skin, the sheer, faded material leaving very little to the imagination as to what lay underneath. At that point he really couldn't help himself. And who could blame him? Talon was a man after all. Every time Kat bent over to pick up a knife, he'd catch a glimpse of that cheeky black thong hugging her backside, the flimsy fabric never ceasing in its seemingly endless mission to ride up as snugly as possible between the curves of her pert… little…

_Fuck._

Katarina was beautiful. Perhaps one of the loveliest creatures in all of Valoran. She was built like a tigress – slinky, yet tone and firm. Petite too, with just the right amount of curves in all the right places. So pale, so pure… her skin shone like freshly fallen snow, laced with a menagerie of thin and jagged records from battles long since past. Her fiery tresses seemed to shimmer like a cascade of lava down the small of her back… and of course there were those eyes of hers too. Gazing into Katarina's eyes was like staring into a pristine meadow, untouched by human hands. She was gorgeous no doubt, but the thing that always seemed to get him – _really_ get him – believe it or not… was…

Her scent.

Yes, her smell. It was a subtle redolence indeed. Perhaps a less keen sense would have never picked up on it, but Talon's was about as sharp as they came. Her scent never faltered, no matter how hard they'd train or how much she'd sweat. Katarina had such a sweet, delicate fragrance… like a wild rose in bloom, tinged with the faintest hints of iron, arcana and blood. Intoxicating to say the least.

Indeed, everything about this woman was beautiful.

Well…

_Almost_ everything.

As breathtaking as she was to behold, Talon also happened to know – from first hand experience, no less – that this woman was a gigantic… colossal… utterly _royal_ pain in the ass. Kat was about as tactless and ill-mannered as they came. Bossy too, in a less than endearing sort of way. Couldn't forget that. To put it bluntly, everything had to be done _her_ way or not at all. Honestly, on more than one occasion Talon had come _this_ close to slitting her pretty little throat, just to shut her the fuck up in the tepid hopes of achieving one single moment of peace and quiet… the only thing stopping him the fact that she was, for all intents and purposes, his sister.

_…Fuck._

And… to make matters, oh, only about _a hundred_ times worse, Talon could still recall with almost perfect clarity… the moment he realized he'd somehow developed some semblance of feelings for her.

_Fuck… fuck… fuck!_

Something was off though. Kat wasn't her usual self, and she hadn't been for quite some time now. Today in particular she just seemed kind of… out of it. Her footwork had been tentative, her movements sloppy and overly predictable. He'd even had to pull his punches and dial down the intensity during their training, simply out of fear that an errant blow might have actually connected and gravely injured her had he not held back. Of course, on top of that there was the usual sort of quirkiness to boot. Kat had become far more subdued these days, prone to bouts of silence and melancholy. Not that Talon disliked any modicum of tranquility, but… it all just felt… wrong for some reason. Case in point: Kat would keep to herself during the day for the most part, an attempt (Talon surmised) on her part to minimize any sort of interaction between the two of them.

But then… at night…

Well…

_That_ was a different story altogether.

You see… Talon was a bit of a light sleeper. Call it a force of habit if you will, but every night for the past week or so Talon had been waking up in the early hours of the morning only to find… his sister… fast asleep beside him. She'd always seem to slip out of his room before the first rays of mottled sunlight ever crested over the cityscape, but without fail that very next night… much to Talon's chagrin… he'd find Kat at the edge of his bed again, in nothing but her negligee, back turned and head resting on the corner of his pillow.

Not a word ever exchanged between the two, let alone a glance.

Talon exhaled softly. His tired gaze now rose to fix upon the lacquered blades of the ceiling fan spinning above him in a wobbly circle... an endless, tireless circle as it were. Ceiling fans were a bit of a novelty in Noxus, a status symbol found in the homes of only the wealthiest and most influential figures. They were all steam powered, with the heat channeled through ventilation shafts stemming from the sewers of the lowermost districts. Talon couldn't help but shake his head at the utter irony of his present situation. It was hard to imagine that only a few years ago he'd been sleeping next to those very same sewer shafts just to keep from freezing at night. How far he had come then… from a child of the streets living in the most abject poverty, to a ward of the DuCouteau family – one of the most feared and respected surnames in all of Valoran; the _crème de la crème_ of Noxian society.

Talon scoffed at the thought, his pale lips parting into an almost derisive sort of smirk as his fingers continued to drub against the taut musculature corded around his navel. The wounds of his childhood were still fresh in his mind and yet… all of it seemed like a lifetime ago. He had done things… to people… _for _people. Seen things no child should ever have to see. And yet… had his life _really _changed all that much since then? Much like the ceiling fan spinning above him Talon sometimes felt as though he were stuck in some sort of loop; an endless, vicious cycle of violence and sorrow. And through it all, the only thing that ever seemed to remain tangible, constant even… the only thing that seemed to keep him rooted in this new reality… was Kat. But now, even _that_ anchor seemed to be on the brink of crumbling away into nothingness…

_Oh well. _

_Whatever._

Gradually the assassin's eyelids began to grow heavy from the weight of slumber, and with a soft yawn Talon let his head sink back into the gentle caress of his pillow. The world grew dark and distant, and the muted hum of that ceiling fan overhead grew fainter and fainter still.

* * *

_Author's Notes: Finally, another tale finds its way to the page. If you've read my other stories you might have an idea of what to expect but then again, who doesn't like surprises? Talon x Kat. What could -possibly- go wrong? ;)_


	2. Chapter 2

_Love is much like a wild rose, beautiful and calm, but willing to draw blood in its defense._

_-Mark Overby_

* * *

**-In Bloom, Chapter 2**

It seldom rained in Demacia.

Despite being a port city situated on the western shores of Valoran, the weather was quite temperate. The summers were warm and the winters cold, but neither overly so. It never really rained much in Demacia, but tonight was an exception. For tonight the skies had opened up like the petals of a rose, to welcome any unsuspecting Noxian visitors and make them feel right at home.

A waterlogged silhouette flitted through the mired darkness of the forest landscape, blood-soaked boots kicking up loose bits of sludge from the sodden dirt trail they were frantically trudging along. The man's heart was pounding, lungs burning in agony and even though his movements seemed deliberate and even painfully forced at times, his pace never faltered. Not even for a moment.

_Breathe in._

His arms were numb from the weight they carried, not least of all a broken armblade strapped to the back of his right hand, the runnel chipped down its centerline from all the punishment it had taken and only barely withstood. The cold deluge from above continued to pound a steady rhythm against the back of his cowl as he ran; the droplets seemed to focus on the very point of his sable hood, only to flicker down his chin and dilute the thin rivulets of red streaming from the corners of his mouth in the process.

_Breathe out._

Even through the downpour he could still hear the voices of his pursuers… make out the sounds of men yelling and dogs barking not somewhere too far behind. The Demacian patrol was gaining ground now; it was only a matter of time before they closed in. The rain was washing away his blood and drowning out his scent, but he'd never be able to make it to the border in time. Not like this… not in the condition he was in. For every step he took, they made up two. No… he'd have to fight. He'd have to kill them before they did the same to him.

And luckily for Talon, that was perhaps the _one_ thing he was really, really good at.

He'd have to try and pick them off one by one, using the terrain to his advantage if he could. The unit was small enough that he _just _might be able to pull it off. Of course the chances of survival were slim at best, but then again a slim chance was better than none at all. Talon grunted when his toes caught a root in the ground, the unworked piece of earth nearly sending him sprawling for his troubles, but the assassin's agility kicked in and his pace held firm. _Focus, idiot._ He was now keenly aware of every injury that his body had sustained, every nick and every cut still oozing darkest crimson, his life force ebbing away slowly like so many scoops of misshapen ice cream melting in the sun. Multiple lacerations, a ruptured spleen and perhaps a cracked rib or two. _Lovely._

The arrow wound was by far the worst though.

He could feel it just under his sternum now, the broken piece still lodged in the space between his ribs, jagged metal rubbing against bone and flesh alike with every step he took. To that end Talon narrowed his gaze darkly, his pulsing breath effervescing as a cloud of hot steam under the rain.

_Fucking Demacians._

For all their talk of superior morality and justice, they sure were some ruthless sons of bitches indeed. Their snipers purposefully ran with barbed arrows, a kind of ammunition that ensured even a glancing blow would run the maximum risk of serious internal injury. Digging the arrowhead out would be a chore as usual, but it wasn't something he could risk at the moment, especially since he'd already lost so much blood. The pain it caused was beyond excruciating… but truth be told, Talon was fine with that. He welcomed it even – the adrenaline it spiked kept him awake, alert and on edge. If at any point the pain started to ebb though… _that_ was when he knew he was in _real_ trouble. Becoming numb to the pain simply meant that your mind was shutting down and your body had reached its physical limit, incapable of dealing with whatever harm had been inflicted upon it. Loss of consciousness would be inevitable at that point… and _that_ was something he just couldn't afford. Not with what was at stake. Not with… _her…_ hanging half-dead in his arms…

"T-Tal…on?"

As if on cue she began to stir, her soft breathless voice snapping him out of his reverie. Talon glanced down at her, almost unmoving in his arms save for a gentle twitch of her lips and the steady, almost rhythmic cascade of tangled scarlet locks against his shoulder. Her clothing lay in tatters on her battered frame, what with her leather top all but shredded and her left breast partially exposed. A jagged lattice of cuts ran the entire length of her chest and tummy, the bloody trails welling up along her collarbone only to pool in the curve of her navel. As grave as it seemed though, the injuries were far from life threatening. No, it was the gash across the left side of her face that concerned him more than anything. It was long and razor thin… deep too; _that_ was definitely going to leave a mark. The blood just wouldn't stop running from it, streaming down her cheek like a river of sanguine tears. Her other eye was partially open, clouded and wavering as she fell in and out of consciousness. The one that had sustained the cut however, was firmly shut. Perhaps permanently so… at this point he really couldn't tell.

"Talon… w-what… ha-"

"Don't talk." Talon stifled a growl, his normally subdued tone strained and parched despite the obvious abundance of moisture in the atmosphere. "Save your strength." He wasn't in the mood for a conversation, not at the moment anyway. He had to find a suitable hiding place first… somewhere safe he could drop her off before he ventured back into the fray. If things went sour and he didn't make it out alive, at the very least _she_ might be able-

Talon shivered in mid thought, the blood freezing in his veins.

Since when exactly… had he started caring about _her_ survival… over his own? Or anyone else's for that matter. With a huff he glanced down at her again, just before rounding a sloped embankment and dodging behind a gnarled trunk. Katarina had fallen back into a daze, both eyes closed and soft lips parted ever so slightly. Her body hung limp in his arms, the only clue to her state of consciousness now the subtle warble of her tummy and breasts. So innocent and peaceful she seemed in that moment. So vulnerable… like a fragile, wilted rose, her thorns sheared away. If he didn't know any better he'd have been hard pressed to imagine that this woman was in actuality a ruthless killer.

He knelt down to carefully deposit her against the tree trunk, taking care to fold her arms across her lap and brush a few stray strands of scarlet from her temples. _Fragile little rose. _She'd likely sustained a mild concussion – that much was fairly evident now. Perhaps she wouldn't be able to make it back on her own after all. _Fuck._ No time to dwell… all that mattered then was holding off their pursuers. If he couldn't manage that, neither of them would be going home anytime soon it seemed. Gingerly the battered assassin rose to his feet once more, teeth gritting in pain as they attempted to swallow a string of curses back into the pit of his stomach. _Fuck._ This was it. This was how his life was going to end.

With a sharp exhale Talon narrowed his brow and turned to walk away... only to stop short when five slender fingers reached out and held on sharply to the back of his leg.

"Don't… don't…leave," Katarina whispered, her voice all but drowned out by the rain. It was so soft and feeble, a far cry from the proud and assertive arrogance he'd quickly come to view as the bane of his existence. No, this was a side of her he'd never seen before. A side he never wanted to see ever again.

"Look at me," Talon whispered hoarsely, taking each of her bloodied cheeks in the palm of his hands. Their eyes met for perhaps the first time in a very long time, unwavering gazes… searing amber upon solid emerald. And then Talon simply exhaled, forcing himself to smile. "I'm _not_ leaving you. Understand?" His thumbs moved to gently dab at the stains marring her cheeks, wiping away all manner of caked dirt and blood, sweat and tears alike. "I'll… never leave you." A knot had formed in the back of his throat with those final words, a sensation unlike one he'd ever felt before. For some unfathomable reason, at that moment Talon found it difficult, if not downright impossible, to let go of her. Even after she'd nodded in affirmation and blinked back the tears of pain from her eyes, Talon's hands seemed to linger on the sides of her face for far longer than they should have.

_I'll never leave you._

* * *

Talon awoke to the passing peal of thunder somewhere far off in the distance, the dream fading but the memories still lingering. For what seemed like an eternity he simply lay there tangled in his bed sheets, unmoving save for the rise and fall of his chest and the casual flicker of life in his blurry, tired gaze. The world was coming into focus and yet, Talon could see nothing but that tired old ceiling fan spinning overhead, hear nothing but the heavy pitter-patter of rain on stone shingles… and smell nothing but the faintest, sweetest scent of roses in full bloom.

_Kat._

His lips parted to say her name, but no sound came. Was he still dreaming? Slowly he cocked his head against his pillow, sweat-caked chocolate bangs sliding to the wayside. She was standing there in the doorway, as she'd done before so many nights in a row – a pale, perfect little silhouette – long locks falling in tangled curls about her shoulders and breasts. Her eyes were hidden behind that mass of molten red and yet somehow Talon could still feel her gaze upon him. She wore a dark lace camisole, the flimsy garment hugging her curves and barely managing to crest over her navel as she stood there breathing softly, lips full and flushed. Her delicate little coral nipples were clearly visible beneath the mesh fabric, and the black boyshorts cradling her hips did next to nothing to hide the smooth, silken mound between her thighs. Her body seemed so pale in contrast to her scarlet tresses… like a living, breathing slice of strawberry à la mode. And to top it off, she was wet. _Soaking_. _Wet._ From head to toe. For a moment Talon wondered if perhaps he really was still dreaming.

She slipped towards him in silence, taking her time like a jungle cat on the prowl. The puddle under her bare feet grew with every step across the hardwood floor. _God almighty in heaven_ this woman was beautiful. Even the darkness could do little to dull her radiance. Talon found his mind beginning to wander into forbidden territory, to places better left undisturbed.

_If only…_

If only she were anyone else but who she was, his sister. Anyone else but the woman he'd endured for so long… cursed at, argued with, been teased and nagged by, bled with and for… the woman whose father he'd pledged his life to so many years ago. If only she were anyone else… but…

_"Kat…"_


	3. Chapter 3

_'Tis the last rose of summer, left blooming alone;  
All her lovely companions are faded and gone._

_-Thomas Moore_

* * *

**-In Bloom, Chapter 3**

He was dreaming. He _had _to be.

She was standing there in his bedroom after all, the redheaded siren that she was, bathed from head to toe in nothing but raindrops and sheer silk. Her skin was so pale against her dark negligee, the thin scars marring her lovely curves like a roadmap of every encounter long since past. Unearthly beautiful. Dark. _Alluring._ He wanted to reach out… to run his fingertips along the delicate contours of her hips and navel, but instead he could only gaze at her in silence, with his eyes still half-closed and his mind only half-awake. This _had_ to be a dream.

Talon tried to whisper her name, though in reality what came out of his parched lips sounded more like a low-pitched groan than anything else. He could feel his blood rushing south and his boxers beginning to grow rather… tight… around the seam of his groin. _Oh god. _This'd _better_ be a dream. _Please_ let this be a dr-

_Nope._

Talon nearly bolted out of bed when Kat finally plopped down beside him, the illusion of her sylph-like splendor all but shattered the moment her head smacked against his outstretched arm. Apparently her body was not only soaking wet, but also cold. Really, _really_ _fucking_ cold. If Talon hadn't been fully awake just a moment ago, he certainly was now.

"W-what the _hell, _Kat…" Talon groaned, trying in vain to slide his bicep out from under her head. "You're… you're _freezing!_ Where have you-"

"Shut up."

The bewildered assassin narrowed his gaze. No, this was definitely reality all right. He couldn't have dreamt up her response any better. Once this train wreck of a woman had her mind set on something, you could kiss goodbye any hope for a civilized or rational discussion. Trying to reason with Katarina was like trying to pin a medal on a shadow.

"At least… get off my arm so I can get you a towel," Talon grumbled under his breath, still groggy from the rude awakening he'd received. His linens were already completely soiled underneath her, what with his pillowcase and sheets slowly turning an even darker shade of gray. If Kat's mission had been to bring a touch of that wonderful monsoon weather inside to his room, well… mission fucking accomplished. "You'll catch a cold," Talon growled, "and end up giving _me_ one too."

"…"

No response.

Talon clenched his jaw shut like a steel trap, gritting his teeth as he flexed his fingers to form a tight fist. Slowly he turned his head away and exhaled with a heavy sigh, his eyes alighting upon the ceiling fan overhead. "Kat," He whispered again after a long and somewhat awkward pause, "I'm not a mind-reader… but I'm also not an idiot. You need to tell me what's-"

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not. That much is pretty damn obvious."

"Yes. I am."

"Kat…"

"I said_ I'm fine!"_

That was the last straw.

With a grunt Talon propped himself up on one elbow before moving to wrench his arm right out from under her head. The action must have caught her completely off guard; Kat had been loosely grasping his wrist and when he pulled away, her fingernails managed to break his skin, leaving behind a whisper-thin trail of bloody scratches along the inner edge of his forearm. If Talon had noticed though, he certainly wasn't showing it. "I'm done." His voice remained low and even, but the vitriol laced in each and every syllable he uttered was as clear as day. He couldn't hold it in any longer… he couldn't keep the frustration to himself. "You've been ignoring me… _avoiding_ me like the plague for the better part of a month now… yet _every_ night you'll sneak in here and plop down next to me without so much as a word."

"Usually… you're asleep," came her muffled and muted response, barely audible above the pelting drizzle. The fact that her face was practically buried in his sheets did little to help the situation as well.

"That's _not_ the point," Talon snapped back. He was visibly perturbed now, more so than he'd ever been over anything in quite a long time. The half-heartedness of her replies only seemed to infuriate him further. "You _use_ me when it suits you… and even then, you treat me like I'm some _fucking_ stranger." His amber eyes seemed to roil with intensity as he spoke, each glowing like a molten pool of liquid gold suspended in a sea of wavering darkness. On the streets of Noxus, Talon's gaze alone had been enough to end many a fight before they'd even begun. _Dark Eyes_, they used to call him, back when he had no name. He could part a sea of onlookers with that deadly stare of his, but _that_ clearly wasn't going to happen tonight. Not least of all with Katarina, what with her back squarely turned to him. She hadn't moved even a single inch after he'd pulled away.

"We're not strangers Kat," he exhaled again sharply, the tension draining from his features. "We're _family._ But I… I can't do… all _this… _any more, whatever _this_ is. I'm done. Either you tell me what's going on _right now_…" Talon hesitated for a moment, his lips oscillating between vowels as if to contemplate the gravity of what he was about to say next.

"…or you get the _fuck_ out of my room."

For a moment his ultimatum was met with silence, nothing but the steady sound of rain and the faint echo of a thunderclap or two somewhere off in the distance. For the longest time, neither seemed to move. All Talon could do was simply stare at her backside, taking in the curve of her naked shoulders as she shivered softly against his sheets. Even now, in his irritated state, he was absolutely mesmerized by her… spellbound by the sight of her slender thighs and her glistening wet hair… her soft, rounded hips and the tiny dimples in her lower back.

_Fuck._

Slowly but surely his demeanor softened and a few stray tendrils of doubt crept into his resolve. Perhaps… he'd been too harsh? Perhaps he should try to console her by saying something else, something that would fix it all?

_Fuck…_

Talon was comically awful when it came to dealing with emotions, either his own or those of others. Feelings were a liability, he'd always told himself, a weakness. Empathy got you killed. Apathy kept you alive. A childhood wasted in the slums of Noxus had taught him that much. Thanks to that lifetime of pain – both inflicted and received – Talon had rendered himself immune to emotion. He'd become numb to it all… at least up until recently, anyway. That was before he'd found himself a family. That was before he'd learned how to live for the sake of another. And perhaps that was precisely why what happened next seemed to cut his soul to the very core, hurting him far more deeply than any knife or any arrow could have ever hoped to inflict on his scarred, sinewy frame.

"Fine," his sister whispered to him in a cold tone. Slowly she rose from the edge of his bed and slid to her feet… just like that, without so much as a glance back in his direction. She wouldn't make it more than a step though.

Talon wouldn't let her.

Like a whip his hand shot out to wrap around her wrist, yanking her back towards him with a sharp, almost violent tug. The force was justified; Talon had prepared for her to struggle… to offer at least _some_ degree of resistance to him, but no. Nothing of the sort. Instead she simply fell into him, as if caught up by the sheer gravity of his will, and the next thing he knew his sister's wet, half-naked body was flush against his own, her hair draped across his collarbone and her face buried in the side of his chest.

Talon's heart was pounding. He was dumbfounded… too stunned to say anything, let alone make a move. To be honest he hadn't exactly thought this through. She'd called his bluff. The truth was, he'd never want her to leave. Ever. Oddly though, rather than pushing him away Kat seemed to be holding onto him for dear life as well now, her body seemingly shivering against his warmth. He could feel her own heart beating rapidly against his, her breathing coming in slow, steady pulses. Talon relaxed his grip on her arm, her own shaky fingers clasped loosely around the outer edge of his thumb. Such soft hands she had… so gentle and feminine. It was hard to believe that these hands had taken the lives of so many others.

They lay there just like that – each at a loss for words – for what seemed like an eternity. In reality it couldn't have been more than a few minutes. Finally though, Kat broke the silence with a whisper, her voice hoarse and broken, the words all but drowned out by the rain.

"They're… not coming back… are they?"

Just then something warm and wet splashed upon Talon's chest, followed shortly thereafter by another… and another… and another. The droplets slowly dribbled down the sinewy musculature of his naked core, only to form a tiny little pool in the crease of his navel. Kat was crying.

"Who?" Talon whispered softly as a lump began to form in the pit of his throat. He knew the answer of course – they both did – but for some reason feigning ignorance seemed to make the pain more bearable. It had been over a year since the General's disappearance… over a year since he'd left behind his nation and – more importantly - his two daughters, never to be seen or heard from again. Kat had been hit the hardest by it. She'd been her father's favorite after all, the apparent spitting image of her mother. After the General's disappearance, the manor had fallen into a bit of a state of disarray. One by one the help stopped coming in… the advisors, the cooks, servants and maids.

Cassie had run away not long after that.

She'd just up and vanished. Apparently the stress of her… transformation, coupled with her father's disappearance had been too much for her poor mind to handle. Her whereabouts were still unknown, but the fact remained: the DuCouteau household – a place that had once been teeming with life, wrought with activity, hustle and bustle, voices and yes, even affection – was now simply home to a pair of lonely, broken blades.


	4. Chapter 4

_The red rose whispers of passion,  
And the white rose breathes of love;  
O, the red rose is a falcon,  
And the white rose is a dove._

_-John Boyle O'Reilly_

* * *

**-In Bloom, Chapter 4**

He could recall, with perfect clarity, every single time he'd ever seen his sister cry. Granted such moments were few and far between, but even after all these years living together under the same roof, he could still remember each and every one of them. It wasn't as if Kat was averse to showing emotion or anything like that. On the contrary, she tended to wear her heart rather openly on her sleeve for all to see. Whether happy or sad, frustrated, hurt or just plain miserable, Kat was never afraid to show it.

And Talon hated it.

He _hated_ seeing her cry. Whenever she got like that – so vulnerable and fragile, so emotional, so… wretchedly human – it never failed to awaken something inside of him that he thought he'd buried long ago. Like an old memory the sentiments would surface… feelings he never knew he had, let alone was even capable of having for another. The truth was Talon hated seeing Katarina cry because it reminded him of his own weaknesses, his own flawed humanity… but perhaps most importantly, it reminded him that he'd fallen for the _one _girl in this world he could never have.

"Kat," the weary assassin whispered to his sister as he opened his eyes, her name but a lilt on the edge of his lips. She lay there by his side, soaking wet and trembling from head to toe. Even in the darkness her body seemed to shimmer against his, her near-nakedness painted in shadows and moonlight like the stripes of a silvery tigress. Outside, the rain continued to drive home a pounding rhythm across the rooftop, drowning out whatever other sounds were present with a steady chorus of pitter-patters and faint, rolling thunder. To Talon though, it may just as well have been silent. Everything else seemed to pale in comparison to the sound of Kat's soft breathing as it danced along the crease of his collarbone… or that of his own heart pounding mercilessly against the inside of his ribs. He hadn't realized it until now, but he'd been idly stroking her hair all the while, the pads of his fingers lost in a damp forest of her glossy scarlet curls. He'd also become quite keenly aware of the fact that her body had somehow managed to intertwine itself with his, what with her head nestled deep in the nook of his shoulder and her delicate, satin-covered breasts digging firmly into his ribs. Her scent had already permeated his skin; every time he inhaled he couldn't help but taste her ten times over.

_Fuck._

Talon faltered for a moment as heat flooded his features, pale cheeks burning with rose-colored warmth. He tried to stretch his legs to create some semblance of breathing room between the two of them, but soon found he couldn't even manage that much. Apparently both of Kat's legs had managed to wrap themselves tightly around his left thigh. Talon held back a groan as he twisted his captive leg ever so gently, his mind reeling between the choice of either feeling awkward or aroused. At least he knew which way his body was leaning: Talon's boxers had already begun to form a tent over the seam of his groin, the ebon fabric growing tight around his hips in the most uncomfortable and conspicuous way imaginable.

"Listen," Talon whispered, trying desperately to find something else for his mind to dwell on. The slinky little redhead clinging to his side gave a muffled murmur in response before burying her face even deeper against his shoulder. Slowly she readjusted one of her legs over the top of his thigh, her knee coming dangerously close to smacking right into the side of his massive, throbbing…

"I-I know…" Talon stammered as he rotated his hips away from her at the last possible moment. "I know… you've been avoiding me." His heart was pounding; with each throb it seemed poised to tear a hole right through his chest. "Fine. I took that in stride." Slowly he cocked his gaze to focus on the top of his sister's head, the hand that had been caressing her fiery tresses moving instead to rest below the nape of her neck. "But then… every night, you sneak into my room and… you…"

He let the words trail off, unsure of what to say next. It didn't seem as though he'd be graced with a reply anyway. _Figures. _Silence was Katarina's go-to response to nearly every discussion they'd ever had during the entire course of their sibling relationship. It was either that, or 'shut up.' Talon had come to learn early on that despite her quick wit and sharp tongue, Kat possessed a sparse vocabulary seemingly limited to insults, one-liners and long, awkward pauses. If reasoning with Kat was like pinning a medal on a shadow, trying to talk to her was like climbing a cactus. Naked. With a heavy sigh Talon turned his attention to the far corner of the room and stared out of the shuttered windows, the empty spaces between the wooden slats reflecting in his amber eyes a hazy bluish-gray afterglow.

"I… "

Her voice startled him at first. He hadn't been expecting a response. It sounded more like a musical note than the husky whisper it truly was, struggling to make itself heard above the heavy downpour. He'd almost forgotten what she sounded like, especially hearing her speak in such a muted and dulcet tone.

"I know…"

Her lips parted softly but her eyes remained closed as she nuzzled up against him, resting her head upon his collarbone. Talon could feel the butterflies fluttering about in his stomach now, alongside a slightly more foreboding feeling pooling in the pit of his throat. He had no idea where she was going with this, much less what she'd say next, but something told him he wasn't going to like it regardless.

"I know… you're going to leave me."

The room fell silent. Even the rain seemed to die down for a moment, as if nature herself awaited Talon's reply. But it never came.

"I know… about the promise you made… to daddy," Kat whispered again, the words carving through the silence like a hot knife through butter. Her breath seemed to dance along his collarbone as she spoke, each swell grazing his chest with faint, trembling swirls of warmth. "But… he's gone now, so there's nothing holding you here any longer."

"Kat-"

"You're _going_ to leave me," she cried out, cutting his would-be reply short. Her hands seemed to move on their own accord now as one draped itself across his stomach, her fingernails digging into the taut musculature under his skin. "Maybe not today or tomorrow, but you will eventually. Everybody does. I get it. I know I'm difficult. I know I'm a handful." Her fingers seemed to linger on his midsection for a moment before tensing quite suddenly and shifting away, as if she'd only just realized the way she'd been touching him. Slowly but surely her voice settled back down to the level of a hoarse whisper. "Anyway… that's… why I've been pushing you away. To prepare."

"Kat…"

"It's _pathetic, _isn't it," she cut him off yet again. Normally he couldn't get her to say more than three fucking words to him. Now, he couldn't get a single one in edgewise. "I'm supposed to be an assassin, right? I mean we _kill_ people for a living, Talon. There's _nothing_ lonelier than that_._ But… I-I just… don't know. For some reason the thought of being here in this house, without daddy or Cassie… without… _you_…" Her voice began to waver. What little strength she'd amassed behind it had now simply crumbled away into nothingness. "Every night I say to myself… when I wake up tomorrow, you'll be gone. Your bed will be empty and I'll be alone. But I… I can never wait till morning. I _have_ to get up… to check… and every time I do… you're _still_ here. You're… always… still… here…" Her voice trailed off, the words all but choked into submission by the fresh tears streaming down her cheeks. Once again Talon could feel her arm draped over his core and her fingernails desperately digging in, as if she feared any lapse in contact would cause him to vanish into thin air. "If… you're going to leave me, Talon… _please…_ just fucking do it already. I can't take it any more. _Please_… just… lea-"

Katarina's eyes went wide, tears pooling at the corners as a hand took hold of her chin. Something was pressing against her lips. Something soft, yet inexplicably firm… something warm and just a bit wet. The words had all but vanished from the tip of her tongue, replaced instead by a jumbled mixture of mewling whimpers and moans. She wouldn't get to finish her sentence, not this time anyway.

How could she when Talon was kissing her?

She struggled beneath him, her cheeks turning bright red as he continued to smother her lips with a slow yet sensual insistence, like molasses dribbling down her tongue. At first she sought to pull away, to recoil from the warmth enveloping her senses, from the heat of his dark aura and his manliness caressing every inch of her skin. But then her eyes began to close, seemingly giving in, and before Kat knew it she found her fingertips flexing against the sinews of his muscular frame and her tongue moving to explore the furthest reaches of his own mouth in kind. Then, after what seemed like an eternity, after their lips released and the kiss had finally broken…

Katarina reared back and slapped Talon across the face, as hard as she possibly could.

His head jerked ever so slightly to the side, but that was it. For the longest time Talon sat there completely unmoving, frozen solid in disbelief, more so from his own actions than hers. Katarina glared at him, her pale and perfect little lips still parted and her hand running its fingertips along the crease of her chin. Her breath came in a series of slow huffs now as her chest heaved to and fro, emerald eyes completely obscured by the mass of tangled, fiery curls cascading down around her shoulders.

He shouldn't have kissed her.

Oh _god no_ he shouldn't have, but Kat just wouldn't listen. She wouldn't stop talking… or crying. _Fuck._ His heart was pounding now, each beat smacking against his ribs as he fought every masculine urge in his body to take her right there. To take his sister.

Was he out of his fucking mind?

Slowly his hand rose to cup the faint burgundy bruise beginning to swell up along the bottom edge of his jaw. The sting seemed to be lingering for far longer than it should have. "Kat…" Talon whispered finally, struggling with all his might to subjugate the ominous feelings forming the heaviest of lumps in the pit of his throat. Suddenly he found himself having a very hard time breathing, let alone even speaking. "Kat, I… I-I'm…"

"Kiss me."

Two words escaped her lips. Just two, little more than a pair of whispers intertwined with soft breaths and the ever-present murmur of that summer drizzle overhead. Talon's ears were ringing and his heart throbbing. He could feel the blood rushing to his head – both of them – the arteries pulsing in his temples and his loins alike. Perhaps he'd misheard her just now. Perhaps he'd misunderstood.

"Kiss me, Talon…"

Then again, perhaps this was just a dream after all.


	5. Chapter 5

_There's no meaning to a flower unless it blooms._

_-Yamanaka Ino_

* * *

**-In Bloom, Chapter 5**

"Kiss me, Talon…"

The words tumbled softly from her lips, drifting past Talon's ears like a swirling mass of fallen leaves caught in the wind. She lay beside him, trembling against his body with nothing but silk, sweat, and raindrops clinging to her skin. Her sanguine tresses spilled across her eye line as she nuzzled into his forearm, her hair obscuring her gaze from view. The mere touch of her skin against his – flushed from the heat and riddled with thin scars – was more than enough to send his mind reeling in a hundred different directions and yet, on the outside Talon remained rigid and silent… seemingly frozen in a state of utter disbelief. _A dream_, his mind hissed at him. _You're dreaming again, aren't you?_

"D-don't make me ask again."

Kat's bangs spilled off to the sides of her face as she spoke, her voice barely audible above the constant drizzle and pitter-patter forming a thin mist on his shuttered windowpanes. Slowly she stirred to meet his gaze with a tenuous glare from below. Her eyes sparkled like two lucid pools of emerald, each dappled at the edges with just the faintest hint of tears.

"It's _embarrassing…"_

Talon parted his lips as if to say something in response, but remained silent. Instead he simply chose to lean in ever so slowly and take her hands in his own. Katarina's scent seemed to linger everywhere now, soaking his every thought and action in a subtle yet intoxicating mixture of wild flowers, sex and blood. _Kiss me_, she mouthed once more without actually saying the words out loud. Her eyes began to close as she sank back into the bed and Talon followed suit, his shadow caressing her body from head to toe.

Their lips brushed softly at first. Gentle and tender, nothing more than a faint if almost awkward caress – just the simple yet pleasurable sensation of skin on skin. Talon took his time tracing the outline of her lips with his own, painting her every breath with a soft and sensual embrace, but the hunger would only grew from there. A moment later and Katarina's mouth soon disappeared from view, all but swallowed up by his lust and longing… all those years of pent-up frustration a lifetime in the making. Without parting from her lips he tugged on her wrists, using them to cinch her arms up and pin them above her head. Kat could only whimper into his mouth as her back arched off the bed. Her hands lifted for a moment but were met swiftly with his before being pinned right back down again, their fingers interlacing this time. The action seemed to stifle her breathing for a moment, enough so that she had to break away just to bury her face against his neck, her heavy breathing lapping at the base of his throat.

"Kat…" Talon whispered into her ear, his dark and husky voice sending shivers down her spine and his alike. "I've… wanted you… for so long." His arousal would have been rather obvious to her now; the thin fabric of his boxers did little to hide his throbbing member as it pressed into the side of her bare thigh. His hands began to slide away from her captive wrists as he leaned in to steal another kiss. Down they traveled, past her collarbone and on to the valley of her breasts. Her camisole did little to hide her pale, pink little nipples from him and the backs of his fingers commanded their attention, eliciting from her lips a tiny gasp every time he teased them. Slowly he moved to peel away the last remnants of her negligee, the flimsy fabric carrying her breasts upwards until the force of gravity would allow them to go no further.

"Talon… w-wait…"

Out they plopped when he shirked the lacy garment free, her breasts now fully exposed and quivering softly with every shaky breath she drew. Talon traced with his lips the path his hands had taken only moments ago. He kissed her scars, each one a familiar friend, using his teeth to nibble on her skin ever so gently. His lips painted a trail along the silhouette of her left breast, starting from her collarbone and working his way to her ribs. Slowly but surely Talon began to sink forward even further, driving his sister's body into the bed with the full weight of his sinewy frame bearing down on her.

"I-is it going to… hurt?"

Talon froze, his golden gaze fluttering open as several strands of chestnut fell across his eye line. Thoroughly confused now, he quirked his lips as if to form a question on the tip of his tongue, but instead he only exhaled and moved to prop himself up on his forearms, doing his level best to keep his arousal at bay. "Hurt?" he echoed the word under his breath after a long pause. Gazing down at his sister now, Talon could see just how anxious she'd apparently become all of a sudden. Involuntary tears were pooling under her lashes and her lips seemed to be pressed together in a shaky, inverted 'V.' Moreover, despite their proximity – despite the heat and swelter radiating from both of their bodies – Katarina was still shivering, almost uncontrollably so. "Kat," Talon whispered in a dulcet tone as he reached out to stroke her cheek, folding his fingers around a few loose strands of scarlet and tucking them behind her ear. "You know I'd never hurt you."

It shouldn't have been physically possible, but before he could finish the sentence his sister's face had somehow managed to turn an even darker shade of red, a hue matched only in brilliance by the fiery locks framing its edges. "I-I'm sorry Talon," she half-stammered and half-squeaked, her gaze darting off to the side as her breasts continued to warble beneath him. "I just… it's been a long time… since I… since I've…"

A pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist, cutting her words short and pulling her in as if to assuage her anxiety with just the power of touch alone. Katarina mewled like a kitten when Talon's lips found the nape of her neck. "It's fine," He whispered into her tresses. "We don't have to do anything if you don't want to."

"I-I _know_ that," she retorted with just a little more fire in her spirit, reaching up with her own slender fingers to cradle his cheek. "But… I…" Slowly she turned in his grasp to meet his gaze with hers.

"I _do_ want to. With you."

No sooner had the words left her lips did Talon feel her reaching down to trace the outline of his erection through his boxers. Her fingers would find the bulge growing quickly now, swelling to fill her palm and eliciting from him a curt gasp of surprise in the process. The sound seemed to embolden her in more ways than one – another moment and her nails were digging into the waistline of his boxers, only to tug sharply downwards, not stopping until she'd freed his manhood from the confines of his clothing.

"I want you, Talon."

A groan escaped his lips as his sister began to stroke his length, his heavy shaft ticking with every pulse from his heart like the second hand of a clock. Before he could even form another coherent thought Kat had slipped downwards along his midsection and lowered her lips to his head in order to plant the softest, sweetest little kiss against his tip. She gazed up at him through veiled bedroom eyes, his sweat and seed glistening on her lips. "I… want to taste you," she whispered as she raised her pinky to wipe her lower lip, popping the finger into her mouth and sucking it clean. "Please?" With a coy smile her gaze fell south as her tongue swirled softly about his manhood. Talon groaned and stiffened, reaching out to cup the back of her head as his sister went to work bobbing softly between his thighs.

* * *

"Talon…"

Katarina squeezed her eyes shut as her head lolled against her brother's shoulder. With her senses all but overwhelmed, her body clung to his for stability, even as Talon himself sat slumped against the headboard, completely spent, sweat and seed glistening on his skin.

"What are we going to tell Daddy? And… Cassie…"

Talon only grunted as he traced the vertebra of his sister's naked spine with his fingertips, starting from the nape of her neck and working his way down to her backside. They'd been laying in each other's arms like that for the longest time now, she curled up in lap with her legs wrapped around his hips and he still buried halfway inside of her, his manhood throbbing in time with the steady beat of their hearts. Her slender frame seemed even smaller now when intertwined with his. Indeed, it was becoming increasingly difficult to tell where one body ended and the other began. Neither had spoken let alone moved for minutes on end, and the only sound left in the room had been that of their soft breathing, alongside the gentle hum of that ceiling fan overhead.

That was, of course, until Talon's hand disappeared between Kat's thighs.

_"Stop,"_ she groaned, swatting at his wrist. "It's still sensitive."

"Payback."

"I hate you."

"I know."

The room fell silent once more. Slowly Talon turned his gaze to the glowing slats of his windowpane. Through those shuttered spaces shone several slivers of blue and indigo, the only illumination bathing his sister's naked form as she lay atop him.

"I… I really did, though… hate you, that is," Kat whispered finally, breaking the silence again and turning to trace her lips along his chest. "Back when Daddy first brought you in. Just the thought of you being here… it made me so angry. I wasn't even sure why, really." Talon could feel her body trembling all of a sudden as she spoke, her fingernails flexing tentatively against the scarred sinews of his muscular core. He couldn't see her face but he could definitely feel what could only be her tears, cold and bittersweet as they were, trickling down his stomach in thin rivulets, only to mix in with the growing pool of sweat and seed smeared along their naked lower halves. "I said… and did… some horrible things to you, Talon. I… I-"

"I know." Talon drew her closer still, perhaps for no other reason than to silence her with a kiss to the top of her head. "Do you remember the first time we ever sparred?" One kiss soon turned into two, and two into three, each one slightly longer and deeper than the last. The action caused Kat to shiver in his grasp and soon he could feel her fingers curling about his waist, holding on tight, his skin dimpling under her grip.

"H-how could I ever forget?" Kat whimpered at his machinations, rose-colored warmth flooding her cheeks. She tried to bury her face even deeper into the crease of his chest, the sensation of skin rubbing on skin sending tingles down each of their spines. "I was so mad after you beat me."

Talon snickered. "I'll say. Remember what happened _later_ that night? At the dinner table, when your father wasn't looking you grabbed your fork and tried to-"

"Stab you in the thigh." Katarina blinked, her eyes growing wide when the memory resurfaced in her mind's eye. "Oh my god, I _did _do that, didn't I? What's wrong with me?" She glanced up at him with a mortified look plastered across her features, her own hand covering her mouth in embarrassment. At first Talon could only shake his head in response, but after the sheer absurdity of the memory sank in neither could hold their mirth back any longer.

So they laughed. Together.

"I… I'm so sorry Talon," Kat groaned as her giggling subsided. She wiped the tears from her eyes with her thumb and went back to laying her head against his chest, her fiery locks draped across his navel like a blanket of molten red feathers. "I'm sorry… for being so terrible." Her eyes were closing now and her breathing had settled into a soft yet steady rhythm of swells lapping against his collarbone. Slumber was taking hold.

"Don't be," Talon's voice trailed off into nothingness as well, the weight of weariness, satisfaction, and exhaustion alike growing heavier and heavier with each passing moment. His eyelids grew heavy and his sight dim; the room was already beginning to fade from view. "You're not terrible," Talon whispered and kissed her brow.

"You're a rose… and I love you, thorns and all."

* * *

_Author's Notes: This was probably the hardest chapter I've ever had to write. Every time I thought I had something... I ended up rewriting it. Again. And again. And again. Above all I wanted this story to be short and sweet, and I wrestled with how far I wanted to go with it in the end. I'm pretty satisfied with how it turned out though, and I hope you enjoyed reading it._


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